This and Th@t

Posing in the fresh snow for Mama

Chasing her cousins at Great Grammie's Birthday party.

Check out those lashes!

Kylee and Devyn

My beautiful girl.


Sorry no new pics to put on, so here are a few of my favorites over the last month that I haven't put on the blog yet. I haven't had the camera out at all this week, hard to believe huh? I almost ran for it yesterday but after cleaning out both girls dressers and closets this weekend, running for anything just seems to be too much effort. I definitely paid for that but I'm about recovered now and ready to move on to something else. lol.

Just thought I would post a few things we've learned about Devyn over the last month or so. She is not very verbal at all. She can and does say "Mama,Mommy, Daddy, I got it, and NO" (usually quite emphatically!). She has learned to say "pretty" when she picked up the Cinderella dress the other day she waved it at me and said "Pretty?" and you could tell it was kind of a "can I put it on?" type question. LOL. Yes she likes very much to be told she is pretty or cute. Getting her dressed is fun in the mornings, I usually grab her things and change her in the living room, as soon as she is dressed and standing she will go right for the fireplace to see how she looks. I guess the glass doors are as close to a mirror we have at her height. She is very funny, and loves to be noticed for that. She also has one heck of a temper. The tantrums (and oh boy can she throw one!) are getting shorter in duration and coming less frequently as she continues to settle in. Usually all we have to say now is, "do you need a timeout?" (we have a chair in the living room that has been the time out spot so she is not separated from us but yet has to take a breather from any given situation) lately just the question asked and she will sniffle and say "uh-uh" or "nooo" so we give her the choice of stopping the tantrum or time out and more often than not she has been stopping.:)

She is a smart little cookie, but would rather we do things for her than do them herself. Like holding her cup, she will bring it to me and put it in MY hand when she wants a drink. So we are working on her holding it and tipping it up, it's not that she can't, she just really doesn't want to. I'm not sure what that is all about yet, that's just one example. There are a lot of things she is like that on. For instance she knows the baby sign for "more" and will do it on occasion at meal time, but almost never when we ask her to! She very much will only do things that she thinks of so we will be doing a lot of work to convince her some things are HER ideas! LOL.

She is never not hungry! But I swear right now I can practically see her growing, so I'm hoping that will fade just a little bit. And today she has a fever, but I think she is just cutting teeth, getting her two year molars, poor baby:( Keeping a close eye on her just in case though.

Now for Julia. I'm happy to say that her Princess sweet side is winning out more and more, as she struggles to find her role as big sister. She is getting to be a really good helper for Mama. And playing with Devyn more than just bossing Devyn on where to be and what to play with. That's not to say that if Devyn picks up a toy, she doesn't automatically want the same one, but she is getting a little bit better about not being nasty about it and not snatching things from her sister quite so quickly.

Julia is actually eating better with Devyn here I've noticed and also asking for food more lately too. I'm almost afraid that she is growing again too! She is getting so big, it's quite something to have her in my lap lately!

Julia loves to do anything concerning art, paint, color, write, and of course loves to be read to and keeps her books at night so she can read to her "animals" before they all go to sleep too. So sweet. Favorite books lately, her Princess stories (of course) and Angus Lost. She loves animals, and when I asked her the other day what she wanted to be when she grew up, she decided she wanted to be an Animal Doctor, what a shock. Thing is, I can easily see her doing just that. I've been fighting the urge to go to the shelter, I KNOW I really don't need or want the extra work a dog would take right now, and I KNOW having one would limit our traveling so much so easily, but I've also really been missing my fur babies and I know Julia would love a dog (cat, hamster, fish..LOL). I am however going to continue resisting that urge. For now.

Things Devyn and Julia like to do together. Play outside, dress up, dance and sing. Yes, Devyn has started singing with Julia. They both loved the movie "Barbie Diamond Castle" that we got this weekend for Julia for being so extra good. It wasn't a bribe, I didn't even tell her I was thinking about it. But somehow when I went to put the movie in on Sunday she still knew which movie it was! They were both mesmerized, which was good, that is when I was doing all that cleaning. And now Julia will go around with her Barbie (she had gotten it for Christmas, but got it out last week and had already been playing with nonstop)pushing the button and singing the song that it plays..and Devyn will join in because obviously she's heard it enough to recognize it now too!

Things they are different about, while Devyn likes to look cute, she could care less how dirty she gets or how messy something is. Julia can't stand to be dirty for anything. She will play hard, but does not like to be messy at all. Julia loves to cuddle and be held just as close as possible, Devyn is more independent and while she likes giving kisses now, still not big on hugs. She likes to be picked up but only for a minute and then she's ready to run again. Julia worries and is shy. Devyn wants to let EVERYONE know she is here. Julia has always attached to one stuffed animal or another (right now it's still Brownie and her Easter Bunnies, the one from Uncle Norman and the little one from the Easter Bunny), so far Devyn hasn't had any such attachments. She likes her toys well enough, but there doesn't seem to be anything that she thinks she couldn't do with out.

Please don't think I'm comparing here or weighing one child over another, I never expected Devyn to be another Julia and wouldn't want her to be. I'm just noting the things they like and dislike. Kind of my way of sorting out in my own head the things that will contribute to their lives as sisters and the things they do together and separately. They should have an interesting relationship, one thing they definitely share is stubbornness!!

Together they fill our lives, make us laugh, exasperate us and just in general are as loved and loving as we can all be. I don't know what we would ever do with out them.